"And here comes the star of the morning!" Allison and Helen made a joke by intentionally giving a round of applause as soon as Rachel joined them at the dining table. Unlike them who looked like something a cat dragged in thanks to the hangover, Rachel was still glowing from whatever happened last night.
"Oh please, stop that, you are embarrassing me," Rachel waved them off, settling down in the empty seat they reserved for her.
She didn't take her position at the head table even though her friends oftentimes wanted her to since this was her house. But then, that table spoke of authority and formality, Rachel didn't want to be distanced from her friends. Moreover, that position belonged to her father anyway; it better suited him.
"I was thinking you were never going to come to breakfast anymore when the hangover's killing me?" Gwen complained, "Can someone turn off the light, please?"
"That is not the light but sunlight, Gwen. You shouldn't have drank too much if you know you couldn't handle it," Allison chided her
While Helen pointed to Rachel, "You should have been like our birthday girl who did less drinking and more exercise," she said suggestively and the two of them burst into laughter, except the hangover Gwen, the shy Rachel, and the distracted In Ha.
"Hana?" Helen called her but there was no response. She just sat in her seat, lost in her thoughts until her name was called the second time.
"W-what?" In Ha was finally roused from her thoughts when her name was called the second time with a jab at her side.
"Earth to you, Hana. Where is your mind the entire time? Is something wrong, darling?" Allison asked, and the other girls looked at her in concern. All of them had been together from the start and had a notion of sharing and solving each other's problems.
"No, no, no, I'm fine, I just have this deep thinking," In Ha said.
"Deep thinking about what?" Rachel asked.
"You would find it ridiculous even if I told you,"
"Try us," The girls wanted to know.
Honestly, In Ha hesitated to tell them about it since it sounded pretty ridiculous, but she chose to trust her friends. Which turned out to be a sad move indeed.
In Ha readjusted in her seat and her friends leaned closer hoping to hear the juicy gossip.
"Have you ever wondered if you lived a previous life before this one?"
And upon that question, the girls didn't say anything, they just looked at one another for a while. But then, as if one said, "Jack Robinson'', all four of them burst into laughter.
In Ha groaned, palming her face, "You guys said you were not going to laugh." She reminded them of their promise.
"Not when we can't help it, "Allison chortled
Rachel told her,"No offense, Hana, but it was quite humorous for you of all people, the most sensible among us to ask about that. It just doesn't make sense. "
"Or perhaps she has a good reason for thinking such thoughts quite early in the morning after a hangover, which is?" Gwen was both curious and annoyed this time. However, she was most intelligent to ask about In Ha's reason for thinking such.
Hence Hana had no choice but to confess, "I had this dream last night. No, I keep having them. Not that frequently, but some over the months? Years? But there is one thing common with all of them... " She trailed off, pondering over it.
"What is it?" Allison was curious about the pinnacle of the revelation. She wanted to know the highlight of the story.
"The fact that I am a queen in all of those dreams." In Ha finally revealed, but the response she received was not what she expected.
If her friends had laughed at her earlier, this one was much harsher and louder. They laughed to the point tears escaped their eyes and they almost fell off the chair while In Ha went red in the face. It was so embarrassing.
"Good grief, Hana! If you had told me that you wanted to be a queen that badly, I would have begged my mother and she would set you up on a date with one of the young monarchs. With your ability, I trust you would bring him down to his knees and be the queen you wanted," Rachel laughed harder.
"Don't mind them, Hana," Helen told her, "It's good to dream dreams," She teased her and the laughter echoed across the dining room. In Ha swore inwardly that she was never telling them her dreams again.
In the end, the conversation ended without her gaining any meaningful input from her friends who took it as a joke. However, that made her think, what if this was a mere dream as they said and she was the one overthinking things?
"Fine, since we're all settled, let's dig into the food then," Rachel announced.
"Finally," Gwen groaned in appreciation. She had been eyeing that chicken soup for a while now since it was good for a hangover.
As expected, breakfast was full of gossip and bickering with the whole of them around. But then, while the others did the talking, Gwen was going through her phone until she stumbled upon a piece of news and froze.
"Oh my God," She gasped softly, drawing the attention of Allison who was beside her.
"What is it?" The girl leaned to her side to see what was going on, only for the smile to be slapped off her face, "Uh no,"
"Oh no, what?" Rachel was intrigued by what was going on and moved out of her seat to see what happened only to have the same expression as the others - downcast and full of concern.
The three of them looked at Hana who became concerned by their intense gaze. She chuckled, "What? What is it? Why are all of you looking at me that way? Did something happen?"
Gwen didn't say anything and simply handed the phone to In Ha who received it with no clue what was awaiting her. And as soon as she saw the news as well, her expression changed and anger filled her.